A Limerick City based priest and social commentator has claimed that children as young as 10 are becoming addicted to heroin in the city. Fr Joe Young claimed that many devastated parents have told him that their kids are being introduced to heroin by drug barons who then use them as drug mules.
He also claimed that many families in the city are in debt due to their children's addictions.
Fr Young who is formerly a parish priest of Southhill in Limerick and is now chaplain with the Brothers of Charity in Bawnmore in the city said, “This addiction is a life sentence for the addict, their families and also society. But I feel we as a city are in absolute total denial about the extent of heroin use in Limerick.”
He added, “You have to compliment the Gardaí for their work, but they cannot solve it on their own.”
“Moreover, I am delighted at the work the Criminal Assets Bureau is doing.”
Fr Young also revealed that he has also been campaigning for a halfway house to be allocated for recovering heroin addicts on the outskirts of Limerick, but funding has yet to become available.
While Fr Young said that he does not have the finances to purchase a property for such use, he said that he, “has the enthusiasm and heartfelt feeling that people would support me anonymously.”
SIC: CIN